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ELKS - INSTALL.TXT - v0.0.3 - 26 January 2000
Original Author - Matt Balaun - gs25mrb@panther.gsu.edu
Editor/Contributor - Al Riddoch - ajr@ecs.soton.ac.uk

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<H1 Align=Center>Installing ELKS</H1>

<P Align=Center>Original Author: <A
HRef="MailTo:gs25mrb@panther.gsu.edu">Matt Balaun</A><BR>
Editor/Contributor: <A HRef="MailTo:ajr@ecs.soton.ac.uk">Al
Riddoch</A><BR>Sub-editor: <A HRef="MailTo:rhw@MemAlpha.cx">Riley
Williams</A></P>

<P Align=Justify>Here are basic instructions on installing ELKS, the
Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset, onto one or more floppy disks for use
on your PC.</P>

<P Align=Justify>If you are looking for information on ELKS development
or on compiling the kernel, please refer to the README file or the ELKS
FAQ.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<H1>Table of Contents</H1>

<P Align=Justify><OL>

<LI><A HRef="#1">Introduction</A>
<LI><A HRef="#2">Creating the installation floppies</A>
<LI><A HRef="#3">Installing and booting ELKS</A>
<LI><A HRef="#4">Credits/Thanks</A>

</OL></P>

<P Align=Justify>If you have any questions relating to this document,
please post your question to the <A
HRef="http://www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/maillist.php3">Linux 8086</A>
discussion list on the Internet.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="1"><H2>Introduction</H2>

<P Align=Justify>ELKS, the Embeddable Linux Kernel Subset, is an
open-source project designed to bring linux-like functionality to old x86
hardware (8088, 8086, 80186, and 80286 processors). Currently, ELKS runs
off floppy disks only; there is no officially supported means of booting
ELKS directly from a hard drive as of yet. This document will tell you
step-by-step how to create your own set of ELKS floppy disks.</P>

<P Align=Justify>These are the disk images for ELKS as contained in the
file IMAGES.ZIP and as of ELKS version 0.0.82:</P>

<P><Pre>
	boot	Disk image used in creating the boot disk
	root	Disk image used in creating the root disk

	comb	Disk image used in creating a combination boot and
		root disk
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>According to Al Riddoch, the maintainer of the ELKS
project, using the combined image is always better, but it requires a disk
size larger than 360K, so cannot be used on machines that only have 360K
drives. Thus, if you have only 360k floppies, make separate boot and root
disks.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2"><H2>Creating your installation floppies</H2>

<P Align=Justify>The first step in installing ELKS is to create the
installation floppies. As a preliminary step, you will need...</P>

<P Align=Justify><UL>

<LI>To download the IMAGES.ZIP archive from the ELKS website.

<LI>One 720k or larger floppy, if you wish to create a single floppy
installation and boot system.

<LI>Two floppies of any size, if you wish to create a "boot &amp; root"
installation and boot system.

</UL></P>

<P Align=Justify>Depending on the system you intend to use to create the
installation floppies, you may need additional tools as well.</P>

<P Align=Justify>The method for creating the installation floppies differs
wildly depending on the system you are using to create them, so has been
separated into the following sections:</P>

<P Align=Justify><OL>

<LI>Using an <A HRef="#2.1">MS-DOS or PC-DOS</A> system
<LI>Using a <A HRef="#2.2">Microsoft Windows</A> system
<LI>Using a <A HRef="#2.3">Linux</A> system
<LI>Using a <A HRef="#2.4">Psion 3 SIBO</A> system (Under Construction)

</OL></P>

<P Align=Justify>When you have created your floppies, <A HRef="#3">click
here</A> for instructions relating to installing and booting ELKS.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.1"><H2>Using an MS-DOS or PC-DOS system</H2>

<P Align=Justify>For those of you using a DOS-based system, or a system
where you have access to a DOS prompt, you will additionally need...</P>

<P Align=Justify><UL>

<LI>The <A
HRef="ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/linux/slackware-7.0/bootdsks.144/">RAWRITE
package</A>.

</UL></P>

<P Align=Justify>First, unzip IMAGES.ZIP into a directory on your hard
drive. If you don't know how to do this, or if you haven't the tools to do
this, download PKZ204G.EXE from ftp.pkware.com, install it, and read the
documentation included with it.</P>

<P Align=Justify>Here is an example session:</P>

<P><Pre>

	C:\> md elks
	C:\> copy images.zip c:\elks\
	C:\> cd elks
	C:\ELKS> pkunzip images.zip
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Second, put a copy of RAWRITE.EXE in the same
directory:</P>

<P><Pre>
	C:\> copy c:\rawrite.exe c:\elks\
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Finally, decide which set of images you wish to make:</P>

<P Align=Justify><UL>

<LI>Separate <A HRef="#2.1.1">Boot &amp; Root</A> floppies.
<LI>A <A HRef="#2.1.2">combined</A> floppy.

</UL></P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.1.1"><H3>Separate Boot &amp; Root floppies</H3>

<P Align=Justify>First, label a blank floppy "ELKS Boot", put it in drive
A: and create the boot floppy:</P>

<P><Pre>
	C:\ELKS> rawrite boot a:
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Take it out and put it on one side, then label a second
blank floppy "ELKS Root", put it in the drive, and create the root
floppy:</P>

<P><Pre>
	C:\ELKS> rawrite root a:
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Take it out and put it with the "ELKS Boot" floppy, then
take both floppies over to the system you wish to install ELKS on.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.1.2"><H3>A combined floppy</H3>

<P Align=Justify>Label a blank floppy "ELKS Combined", put it in drive
A: and create the floppy:</P>

<P><Pre>
	C:\ELKS> rawrite comb a:
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Take it out and take it over to the system you wish to
install ELKS on.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.2"><H2>Using a Microsoft Windows system</H2>

<P Align=Justify>For those of you running a Microsoft Windows system where
you can access a <B>DOS Prompt</B>, you are advised to do so, and to
follow the <A HRef="#2.1">MS-DOS or PC-DOS</A> instructions.</P>

<P Align=Justify>For other Microsoft Windows users, details will be posted
here when available.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.3"><H2>Using a Linux system</H2>

<P Align=Justify>Linux systems supply all the tools you need as part of a
standard installation. You will therefore only need to verify that the
relevant tools were installed on your system, and add them if not. To
verify this, type the following commands:</P>

<P><Pre>
	$ type -path unzip
	$ type -path dd
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>If either of those commands fails to produce any output,
the relevant command is not installed on your system and you will need to
install it.</P>

<P Align=Justify>First, unzip the IMAGES.ZIP archive somewhere:</P>

<P><Pre>
	$ mkdir ~/ELKS
	$ mv IMAGES.ZIP ~/ELKS
	$ cd ~/ELKS
	$ unzip IMAGES.ZIP
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Next, decide which type of installation you wish to
make:</P>

<P Align=Justify><UL>

<LI>Separate <A HRef="#2.3.1">Boot &amp; Root</A> floppies.
<LI>A <A HRef="#2.3.2">combined</A> floppy.

</UL></P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.3.1"><H3>Separate Boot &amp; Root floppies</H3>

<P Align=Justify>First, label a blank floppy "ELKS Boot", put it in drive
A: and create the boot floppy:</P>

<P><Pre>
	$ dd if=boot of=/dev/fd0
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Take it out and put it on one side, then label a second
blank floppy "ELKS Root", put it in the drive, and create the root
floppy:</P>

<P><Pre>
	$ dd if=root of=/dev/fd0
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Take it out and put it with the "ELKS Boot" floppy, then
take both floppies over to the system you wish to install ELKS on.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="2.3.2"><H3>A combined floppy</H3>

<P Align=Justify>Label a blank floppy "ELKS Combined", put it in drive
A: and create the floppy:</P>

<P><Pre>
	$ dd if=comb of=/dev/fd0
</Pre></P>

<P Align=Justify>Take it out and take it over to the system you wish to
install ELKS on.</P>

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<A Name="2.4"><H2>Psion3 SIBO</H2>

<P Align=Justify>The SIBO port is not currently mature enough to be worth
installing. If you are interested in testing and developing the SIBO
kernel, please refer to the section on the ELKS website at</P>

<P Align=Center><A HRef="http://www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/sibo.php3">
http://www.elks.ecs.soton.ac.uk/sibo.php3</A></P>

<P Align=Justify>WARNING - the SIBO port will wipe the SSD disk in slot B and the ramdisk of your Psion 3c.  Backup your data/applications and to be safe remove the SSD from slot A</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="3"><H2>Installing and booting ELKS</H2>

<P Align=Justify>The procedure for installing and booting ELKS is quite
simple, but differs slightly depending on whether the installation is from
a <A HRef="#3.1">combined</A> floppy or from separate <A HRef="#3.2">boot
&amp; root</A> floppies.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="3.1"><H3>Installing and booting from a combined floppy</H3>

<P Align=Justify>This is the simplest procedure: Just put the floppy in
the floppy drive of the system you wish to run ELKS on, and boot the
machine from that floppy drive.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="3.2"><H3>Installing and booting from separate boot &amp; root
floppies</H3>

<P Align=Justify>The procedure here is to insert the <B>ELKS BOOT</B>
floppy in the floppy drive of the target machine and boot the machine from
that floppy drive. At the relevant point in the boot procedure, it will
ask you to insert the <B>ELKS ROOT</B> floppy in the drive, at which point
you should remove the boot floppy and insert the root floppy in its
place, then press the key indicated on the screen.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<A Name="4"><H2>Credits/Thanks</H2>

<P Align=Justify>In updating v0.0.2 of this document, Al Riddoch
contributed technical corrections throughout the whole text.</P>

<P Align=Justify>In helping to distribute this document to all who are
interested in ELKS, Phillip Rhoades has set up the ELKS Documentation
Project homepage (http://www.crosswinds.net/~edp/) where the latest
version of this and other documents relating to the ELKS project should
always be available.</P>

<P ALign=Justify>Thanks to Al, Phillip, and all the other fine people
working on the ELKS project.</P>

<HR Width=95%>

<P Align=Justify>PS: Bug reports are welcome. Requests for help will be
answered when time permits.</P>

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